‘No justification for spending $3bn on imported steel products’
Nigeria does not need to spend a whooping $3 billion while importing steel products annually, said Muhammadu Buhari, the country’s president.
Buhari, who was represented by Okechukwu Enalamah, minister of industry, trade and investment, said this at56th annual general meeting (AGM) of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture ( NACCIMA ) in Jigawa State recently.
“Every year we speed more than $3 billion importing steels, despite the fact that we are sitting on enough iron ore reserves to meet our domestic needs for a long time to come,” said Buhari.
“Let me paint for you a picture of what we can do if we pay attention to our solid minerals sector. First we will create jobs, in a country that has such large pools of unemployed labour, and needs to create millions of jobs annually just to keep up with population growth. Second we will conserve scarce foreign exchange,” the president further said.
He said doing this will close the country’s yawing infrastructure gap and dramatically improve its chances of industrialisation.
“The solid minerals that we have in Nigeria are some of the most sought-after raw materials for industries like construction, manufacturing and packaging. In the past we exported a lot of the solid minerals that we produce. Our raw materials fed factories abroad and helped bring industrial development to distant countries. Today we are laying the foundations for a radical departure from the past. The focus of this administration is on adding value. Instead of exporting our iron ore, why can’t we process it at home and use it to build our houses and bridges and automobiles, the same way our limestone has been at the heart of an ongoing revolution in the cement industry,” said the president.
Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, governor of Jigawa State and immediate past president of NACCIMA, said the implementation of the Jigawa trade corridor concept has provided market for access to the land-locked Sub-Saharan African countries. Abubakar said the recent creation of three additional trade corridors along the border regime with Niger Republic has also significantly enhanced the visibility and sustainability of Jigawa State corridor concept.
Bassey Edem, national president, NACCIMA, said the theme of this year’s conference, ‘Diversification of the Nigerian Economy: Solid Minerals in Focus’ expresses in very clear terms the need for diversification, proffers solid minerals as a viable option, and lays the foundation for exploitation of the opportunities that lie therein.
Edem said as at 2014, the contribution of solid minerals sector to the Nigerian economy was just one percent, adding that it has the potential to increase to at least five percent by 2017 and ten percent by 2020.
“The sector is also capable of creating three million jobs – direct and indirect – by the end of year 2017,” he said.
Markus Pwajok, an engineer and guest lecturer, said solid minerals are abundant in several states to feed into industries, adding that the availability of the minerals has the potential to promote export to boost foreign exchange earning for the country, provide raw materials for domestic industries, thereby boosting local industrialisation, while attracting downstream industries.
“The prospect of increased employment of many Nigerians is very high, particularly in the rural areas, where the minerals are found,” said Pwajok.
ODINAKA ANUDU